Development of High Power Broadband Transmitter Modules for an L-Band Solid-State Radar Transmitter

Abstract

The paper describes the development and evaluation of broadband solid-state transmitter modules in L-band, to be used as basic power amplifier modules in a solid-state single-output radar transmiter. The module has been designed for an overall gain of 17 dB with a peak power output of 2 kW(min) covering 200 MHz bandwidth in L-band and has been evaluated for pulses upto 15 microsecond with a 2 percent duty factor, operating with a 30 percent efficiency. The power module is configured using eleven output devices and a pair of novel low loss serial feed type miniature power divider/combiner. Integrated networks for phase trimming, performance monitoring and various interlocks are all incorporated in the module itself. Two of the modules developed have exhibited phase matching of ±7.5* without any phase trimming being incorporated. A 10 kW radar transmitter can be configured by combining these modules in a high power six way in-phase combiner. Higher power levels can be achieved by adding more ports to the combiner.